Sunday, March 30, 2014

Saadi Gadhafi Apologizes for Past Actions towards the people of Libya

Libyan state television has recently aired a video to the public of Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saadi, in which he apologizes to the nation from his prison cell. Saadi, one of seven, has been locked up in Tripoli jail since his extradition from neighboring country Niger. He fled Libya during the the uprising that was supported by NATO in 2011. As of now, there has been no court trial yet and no charges have been brought against him, but the Libyan government states it has evidence which links Saadi Gadhafi to the recent unrest in southern Libya.
The three minute video involves Saadi pleading to the Libyan government and the national congress for forgiveness. In the video Saadi addresses the recent rumors of him being abused and tortured in prison. The reports of him having broken ribs or bones are false, moving his limbs in the video as proof. Yet no one has been able to visit him personally to see with their own eyes how he has been treated. As a result of this, people have been concerned as to the legibility of the video. Jacqueline Frazier, an American former aide to Saadi Gadhafi, said "Watching Saadi repent in a videotaped confession without any hint of legal representation...no hope for a trial in accordance with international law in Libya."
The purpose of the release of the video creates a large amount of speculation in regards to whether the words Saadi speaks in the video are truly his own, or if he was coerced into saying them. With no legal representation and no visitors allowed to see him in person, there is no clear idea in regards to how Saadi is being treated in prison. In addition, the prison he is currently staying in also houses many of his supporters and government officials that served under him before the uprising. For all we know, the video could only have been published by the Libyan government as a way to ease off suspicion of its treatment of the prisoners in the Tripoli jail.